Subscribe To This Site

Publishers Print Garbage to Buy Quality Books or More Garbage?

Do Publishers print garbage?

Do they deliberately produce toxic waste in order to raise enough money to invest in “real books” –or “is there no lid for the can” because they know this is what people are hungry to buy and eat (read)?

Does the precious money raked in by Toxic Best-Selling Book #1 get invested in Toxic #2 and #3 ad nauseum?

Are publishers so addicted to predictable dollars from another Britney Spears/OJ Simpson tabloid that they have no remorse about passing up quality works written by authentic literary artists?

You bet. That is, if we’re talking about Madison Avenue/Wall Street desperados whose addiction cannot even be cured by confession or forgiveness.

They know what they are, and after all, "business is business." If there's no demand for garbage, create it.

That said, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Joe the Plumber will now become a bona fide author. If publishers print garbage they will also print sewage. It’s time to drain the pipes.

In a brilliant article, “Typing Without A Clue” that appeared in the December 8, 2008 issue of the New York Times, guest columnist Timothy Egan writes:

“The unlicensed pipe fitter known as Joe the Plumber is out with a book this month, just as the last seconds on his 15 minutes are slipping away. I have a question for Joe: Do you want me to fix your leaky toilet?

“I didn't think so. And I don't want you writing books. Not when too many good novelists remain unpublished. Not when too many extraordinary histories remain unread.

"Not when too many riveting memoirs are kicked back at authors after 10 years of toil. Not when voices in Iran, North Korea or China struggle to get past a censor's gate.

“Joe, a k a Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, was no good as a citizen, having failed to pay his full share of taxes, no good as a plumber, not being fully credentialed, and not even any good as a faux American icon.

"Who could forget poor John McCain at his most befuddled, calling out for his working-class surrogate on a day when Joe stiffed him.

“With a resume full of failure, he now thinks he can join the profession of Mark Twain, George Orwell and Joan Didion."

Return from Publishers Print Garbage to Home